Themed team lunches are one of the easiest ways to break the routine. But most offices cycle through the same three options: pizza, sandwiches, the occasional taco bar.
Ethiopian food is worth adding to the rotation, and not just for the novelty. Meals are often served family-style on large platters, with everyone eating from the same spread. The format is communal by design, which makes conversation easier and gives the team something genuinely new to talk about.
It also handles dietary variety better than most cuisines. A standard spread includes multiple vegetarian and vegan options alongside meat dishes, so people with different preferences eat from the same order without workarounds.
Here's what to order, how to brief your team, and how to run the logistics cleanly.
A quick guide to what you’ll be ordering
You don’t need to know Ethiopian cuisine inside and out to order confidently. A few key words will cover most menus.
Injera is the flatbread that serves as both the plate and the utensil. It’s spongy, slightly sour, and used to scoop up everything else. Most restaurants will bring extra.
Wat is the general term for stew. Doro wat is chicken stewed in a spiced sauce built on berbere, which is the central spice blend of Ethiopian cooking: earthy, warm, and moderately spicy. Misir wat is the lentil version. Both are staples.
Tibs is sautéed meat, most often beef or lamb, cooked with onions, peppers, and spices. It’s one of the more accessible dishes for people who are new to the cuisine and wary of anything too unfamiliar.
Gomen is collard greens stewed with ginger and garlic, and shiro is a smooth chickpea or lentil stew. Both show up often on combination plates and both are vegan.
For a group, a combination platter is almost always the right call. It gives people a range to try without anyone committing to just one thing.
How to order for a group that hasn’t tried it before
Most Ethiopian restaurants serve their food family-style, with platters designed to feed multiple people. That format translates directly to office lunch, with a few small adjustments worth making when the group is new to the cuisine.
Order a mix of meat and vegetarian options. A group of 10 usually works well with two to three combination platters, tibs, and a couple of vegetarian sides. The vegetarian dishes aren’t an afterthought in Ethiopian cooking: they’re central to the cuisine. So the vegan selection tends to be excellent.
Ask about spice levels when you place the order. Some dishes, particularly those built on berbere, carry real heat. Many restaurants will adjust on request. For a first-time group, it’s worth flagging so nobody gets a surprise.
One brief note to the team goes a long way. When you share the invite or the lunch announcement, include a line or two about what to expect: that the food comes on shared platters, that injera is the bread everyone eats from, and that no utensils are needed (though restaurants will bring them on request for anyone who prefers).
For more ideas on how to use diverse office lunch rewards to keep employees engaged, the same principle applies: a little context makes people more enthusiastic about trying something new.
What to do about dietary restrictions
Ethiopian food handles a wider range of dietary needs than most shared lunch formats. A few quick notes on the ones that come up most often:
Vegetarian and vegan: The cuisine has a deep tradition of fully plant-based dishes. Misir wat, gomen, shiro, and fosolia (green beans with carrots) are all vegan, filling, and genuinely good. Most menus offer a full vegetarian combination plate.
Gluten-free: Injera made with 100% teff flour is naturally gluten-free. Not all restaurants use 100% teff, so it’s worth confirming before you order for anyone with celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity.
Halal: Some Ethiopian restaurants, particularly those in cities with larger East African communities, serve halal meat. Worth checking directly if this matters for your team.
Nut allergies: Ethiopian cooking does not heavily rely on nuts, but some dishes may include them. When in doubt, ask the restaurant directly before placing a large group order.
Running the order without making it a project
Because Ethiopian food arrives as shared platters rather than individual boxes, the logistics are actually simpler than most team lunch formats. One order, one delivery, one table setup. You’re not coordinating individual preferences or chasing down twelve separate receipts.
For the delivery itself: pick a single drop point, ideally a conference room or a table with enough surface area for the platters to spread out. Ethiopian food is served warm and holds reasonably well, but it’s better eaten within 20 to 30 minutes of arrival.
On the payment side, the shared platter format means billing is already centralized. You’re placing one order, not reconciling expenses from 12 different people who all paid separately.
Order your next Ethiopian food office lunch with DoorDash for Business
The food is worth trying. The logistics, once you’ve run it once, are simple. What slows most people down is not having a reliable way to organize the order and keep the billing clean.
With DoorDash for Business, Group Orders let your team eat from the same restaurant on one bill, with a budget you set in advance and a shared delivery to one location. You pick the restaurant, set the per-person limit, and send the link. The rest runs itself.
Get started with DoorDash for Business and make your next team lunch worth remembering.
